Eurocontrol, the FAA and industry standards-setting groups, along with unmanned airframe builders and their avionics suppliers, are grappling with the question of what will be needed for unmanned aircraft to avoid collisions with other aircraft in civil airspace. So far, no one has come up with a comprehensive solution. One of the key questions is whether the civil and military aviation community and regulators will treat the drive for unmanned aircraft systems (UAS) to gain access to civil airspace as a niche problem for the unmanned community to solve on its own. Or, on the other hand, will the manned community realize that after the UAS community comes up with proven new technology, that an innovative system is likely to do a better job than human eyesight or the existing (but imperfect) traffic-alert and collision avoidance system (TCAS)? By then, the manned community may realize it wants to have the new technology mounted on commercial and business aircraft to improve safety.
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